Posts filed under 'General'
Chris and I finally joined a gym. I have been trying to lose weight since the birth of Aiden (yes, that’s over 2 years ago) and I have leveled off. I am successfully in the upper 120’s, but I need help with specific areas. So, we joined a Wellness Center, which is a gym sponsored by the hospital and now reality has hit me hard.
First you make an appointment with a nurse and then you see a trainer. Well, my visit with the nurse started out after leaving Aiden, for the first time ever with strangers, at the gym’s day care center. He was crying, so of course my blood pressure was up. Then it was time for the scale, which was not as bad as I thought. That was the last bit of good news from the nurse I would receive. My flexibility: poor. Strength assessment: fair. Body Fat: 26.4%. Overall, my body thinks it’s 40 years old and I’m only 36! If that wasn’t enough of a hit, I’m supposed to be shooting for a body age of 30.
I have my meeting with the trainer on Friday, so we will see what that entails. I can’t wait!
August 8th, 2007
Well, I’m another week closer to meeting this little life that has been growing inside me. It’s also another day in which I have yet one more rant I’d like to share.
Like most new moms I started a baby registry. Although, I know I’m not having a shower, I did the whole registry thing anyway so that in case anyone asked us what we needed I could just point them in that direction and my dear husband and I could pick what we wanted and buy at our own leisure without forgetting what it was we chose.
Without naming the store, let’s just say I chose a very well known “we sell everything for baby” store. This store also has an online registry feature. So, one would think this was perfect and convenient. You have two options - go to store and buy what is needed or go online and order it and have it delivered right to your door.
Well, so much for convenience. In the last month every time I go to my online registry more than half the items are listed as not available. As I mentioned I know several other pregnant women so I checked their registries to see if it’s just the stuff I wanted that’s not available. Nope, almost everything on everyone’s registry is not available. What is up with that? How are all we moms supposed to get what we need at this “we sell everything for baby” store if they don’t have anything we need?
Fortunately, my husband and I already have the essentials. Of course, accomplishing this involved me making numerous shopping trips to said store because not everything would fit in my car. It would have been a lot easier and less time consuming if I could have gone online and clicked a few buttons and had it all delivered to my door.
So, here’s a message to that “we sell everything baby” store …“Get your online act together! Life while pregnant is exhausting enough without the added inconvenience of making extra trips to your store!”
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[Editor’s Note:] Stephanie is a stay at home mommy-to-be who will become a stay at home mom. She has been my friend since junior high and we have been through many of our own milestones in life together. She likes to say that she is the spicy to my sweet. She will be writing a weekly rant if she can think of that many things to rant about…and take my word for it, she can!
July 19th, 2006
I’ve really been thinking about all the preparation it takes to be a mommy. I can’t tell you how many days I agonized over whether I should wash all the baby’s clothes and blankets before he wears them and if so, what kind of laundry products should I use to do all this extra wash. I mean, what if I wash it in some kind of detergent that gives him a hideous rash. Will someone call DYFS and will they take him away from me? What if I choose the wrong bottles and nipples and he ends up with latching issues and nipple confusion all because I wanted to go get my hair done and I needed daddy to give him a bottle so I could look beautiful again? Will he starve to death?
And what about all these classes the hospital recommends in order to prepare for the arrival of this miraculous human being? Okay, so I agreed to take the Breastfeeding and the Childbirth class, but I decided to forego the Newborn Care class all because my husband’s work/travel schedule just made scheduling too painful. I gave my nephew plenty of baths when he was a baby. He’s almost 10 now and he seems to be thriving just fine. But will others think I’m a terrible mother because I had the audacity to think I could bathe and swaddle my newborn without the advice of a special class? And here I just thought I’d be really careful and learn as I went along and if all else failed I’d call my mother. Sigh, this child is not even born yet and already I feel like a failure.
And why are there no fathers logging on to message boards worrying about these issues? Is it only mothers that get all this guilt-ridden anxiety? My husband doesn’t lose sleep over these issues. He’s confident that we are intelligent enough to handle this responsibility. This is not to say he doesn’t have some worries about becoming a new father, but it just seems like all the minute issues are weighing on my shoulders and the shoulders of all those other moms on the message boards.
Am I crazy to feel this way? Am I the only woman brave enough to say, “Enough is enough!”? If our mothers and grandmothers could raise children into adulthood without all these new fangled anxieties and rules than why oh why can’t I?
So, is this just third trimester cynicism coming out or do other people have these thoughts as well?
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[Editor’s Note:] Stephanie is a stay at home mommy-to-be who will become a stay at home mom. She has been my friend since junior high and we have been through many of our own milestones in life together. She likes to say that she is the spicy to my sweet. She will be writing a weekly rant if she can think of that many things to rant about…and take my word for it, she can!
July 7th, 2006
I’m Crissy’s fat, pregnant friend who is due to deliver another male child to the world sometime around the end of July. We were discussing belly pictures and belly casts the other day. I was feeling like a freak because I seem to be the only pregnant woman I know (and I’ve been surrounded by them both in the real world and in cyberspace) who is not taking pictures of my growing belly. Call me lazy, call me neglectful, call me a bad mommy-to-be, but I’m not seeing what all the fuss is over photographing this astronomical weight gain of mine. I mean it’s not like anyone can actually see the baby. And it’s not likely that either my husband or I am going to forget how big I got. Now this is not to say I’m going to run and hide if a camera comes out. In fact, I graciously posed for some pictures for my aunt during Memorial Day weekend. But do I really need to pose every week or month or whatever to have my belly photographed to prove I’d be a good mommy? Is this a new requirement?
And what about these belly casts? Now who does this? And honestly, why? I can see me telling my husband he has to put Plaster of Paris on my stomach. “Oh, but, honey, please be careful not to drip any on the new cream carpets.” I foresee all of my orifices being plastered as well so he can’t hear me complain or tell him what to do. Instead of a belly cast it would be a full pregnant mommy cast. And where exactly would I store something like a belly cast? Is this meant to be displayed in the home? “Hmm, we need something to fill all that wall space over the fireplace mantel. I know, let’s hang my round belly there. Then we can proudly tell all our family and friends that our little guy grew there. And when he gets old enough he can bring all his playmates in to show them too. Awww.” Yeah, okay, like that is going to happen! Talk about setting your kid up for many years in therapy.
So, that’s my Mommy-To-Be rant of the week. Thanks Crissy for letting me get it all off my chest.
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[Editor’s Note:] Stephanie is a stay at home mommy-to-be who will become a stay at home mom. She has been my friend since junior high and we have been through many of our own milestones in life together. She likes to say that she is the spicy to my sweet. She will be writing a weekly rant if she can think of that many things to rant about…and take my word for it, she can!
June 20th, 2006
A friend of mine has been “encouraging” me to put up some more posts. I know I have been absent for a while and realize that I might be a “seasonal” blogger. I just made that up so if you are wondering what I’m talking about, please let me explain…
When I started this blog, it was late December/early January. Aiden was not walking and napped quite a bit. I was getting bored so I decided to document his life and my thoughts in this blog. As winter wore on I, not being an avid cold weather person, stayed inside and gladly posted nearly every day. Spring came and with it the rainy season and I continued to post nearly every day. With spring came the sicknesses and my interest in doing anything dropped to zero. I didn’t want to move let alone read or write.
However, as the weather became nicer we all recovered from the illnesses and became more active outdoors. Aiden is now walking like a pro, even trying out his running skills and I am horrified to say he is getting good. Outside we go, with fewer naps to contend with, to the park to play with all his new friends. It’s getting really warm out lately and we have been setting up the sprinkler, which Aiden just loves!
What does this have to do with blogging you ask? Well, I am becoming more and more active outside and less and less active inside. I barely turn my computer on once a day. I know, I know! How could that be when I was glued to it mere months ago? The thought of sitting still makes me crazy! So, during nap time or in the evenings when I would usually tune in to see what everyone else was doing and update my blog, I am either running around the house doing something or getting ready for bed.
I will try to keep you posted more often than every two weeks. I also promise to comment at least once a week. I do love being part of this community and want to remain in your good graces. You are a wonderful group of people and I appreciate each and every one of you.
Remember my friend I mentioned earlier? She wanted to help me out by being a guest blogger to get through this dry patch. She is due at the end of July and does not have an outlet like this for herself. I thought it was very sweet of her to want to assist me and subsequently asked her if she wanted to post on a weekly basis. She excitedly agreed. So, please feel free to comment on anything she has to say, I’m sure she will enjoy the banter : )
June 19th, 2006
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